| Metronomy Forever | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Metronomy |
| Cover: | Metronomy - Metronomy Forever.png |
| Length: | 54:43 |
| Label: | Because |
| Producer: |
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| Prev Title: | Summer 08 |
| Prev Year: | 2016 |
| Next Title: | Small World (Metronomy album) |
| Next Year: | 2022 |
Metronomy Forever is the sixth studio album by English electronic music band Metronomy. The album was preceded by four singles; "Lately", "Salted Caramel Ice Cream", "Walking in the Dark", and "Wedding Bells". Each single was released with a music video, the first three being directed by band frontman Joseph Mount, and "Wedding Bells" being directed by Ben Hanratty.[1] The album was released on 13 September 2019 by Because Music.
Two more songs received music videos after the album's release; "Insecurity" on 13 November, 2019,[2] and "Whitsand Bay" on 21 February, 2020. [3]
The majority of the album was written and recorded by Mount while moving from Paris to Kent[4] with his family. While his new home did feature a recording studio, Mount said the album was "kind of done" by the time it was ready.[5] However after an underwhelming response from his record label, he reworked the material he had into what shows up on the final album. Joseph began work on this album shortly after his work on Robyn's 2018 album Honey, having co-written and co-produced several songs on that record. His experience on that album greatly influenced his outlook and mindset going into Forever. The heavy emotions of Honey greatly contrasted with Mount's personal life, which he described as "happy".
"I did this thing that was so emotionally involved with Robyn for her record, and I came out thinking as though I almost needed this trauma to make a record. And I don’t have that – I’m just happy,..." -Joseph MountIt was ultimately this contrast that Mount said fueled the creation of Metronomy Forever. "You can be super happy while still being a bit despairing",[6] Mount said in an interview. The resulting album is a mix of more up-beat Pop songs and darker Lo-fi instrumentals, with song topics ranging from the joy of weddings to feelings of insecurity.
The name "Metronomy Forever" has two meanings according to Mount. The first relates to his concerns about his and the band's legacy, the second being a tongue-in-cheek reference to the album's run-time. The long track list of the album was partly by design. Mount wanted the album to play like a radio station or an auto-generated playlist.
Metronomy Forever received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 78, based on 15 reviews.
| Publication | Accolade | Rank | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gigwise | Top 51 Albums of 2019 | 25 | [7] | |
| Les Inrocks | Top 100 Albums of 2019 | 29 | [8] | |
| Louder Than War | Top 50 Albums of 2019 | 44 | [9] | |
| Rough Trade | Top 100 Albums of 2019 | 34 | [10] | |
| Under the Radar | Top 100 Albums of 2019 | 61 | [11] |
All tracks are written and produced by Joseph Mount, except where noted.
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Metronomy Forever.[12]